Dysphoric Rhapsody
by TheEerieQueerie
Summary: It was the time of year that Kitty had gathered all her Christmas cheer and peppermint schnapps together to decorate her house. This year the spot for little Christmas helpers Are happily filled by Kelso and Fez, both boys eager to help their favorite mother. Although the Christmas spirit is tainted when Kelso and Fez get into a spat that ends in a very unexpected way. Kelso/Fez.


**_Point Place, Wisconsin.  
December 10, 1978  
7:32 p.m.  
Eric Forman's Living Room_**

"Well isn't this nice?" Kitty Forman clapped her hands together; her signature laugh echoed the living room of the Forman house.

It was the time of year that Kitty had gathered all her Christmas cheer and peppermint schnapps together to decorate her house. Usually her two little helpers were the reluctant Eric and Red but this year they escaped leaving Kitty in need of assistance.

Of course the spot for little Christmas helpers was happily filled by Kelso and Fez, both boys eager to help their favorite mother.

"Sure is Mrs. Kitty, when my host parents decorate they spend most of the time making me read '10 things god does not want to see on Christmas', and let me tell you, it is not a fun list." Fez nodded; a string of Christmas lights trailed from his hands to Kelso's.

"Yeah, and at my house my brothers always end up destroying the tree before we get any presents under it." Kelso slapped Fez's arm while laughing, which usually meant he was involved in the destroying of the tree.

"Aren't those both fun stories?" A nervous laugh escaped Kitty.  
"Well there will be no book reading or destroying of this tree, just some good old fashion decorating and maybe a few corals." Her laugh died down as she got nervous about what they could do if they started playing around.

"Yes!" Kelso made a fist and jerked his elbow back.

"Well I just want to thank the two of you for helping me, Eric and Red snuck away before I could ask them and I knew you two boys would be perfect little helpers." Kitty moved closer to the boys, extending both her hands to pat their shoulders.

"Oh Mrs. Forman there's nothing small about me." Kelso chuckled confidently.

Fez just snickered, Kelso's elbow jabbing the caramel skinned boy.

Even though Kitty knew the joke was dirty she smiled to herself. Even if Kelso was twice her size now, she remembered a time when most of the gang could barely stand up to her waist.

"Oh, while you two boys put up those lights, I'll go get some cookies and cocoa." She patted her flour smeared apron around her waist.

Right before she invited the boys to help her, she had baked some holiday shaped sugar cookies. All she had to do was put the icing and sprinkles on them.

"Thank you Mrs. Kitty, your cookies are always so delicious." Fez turned towards the tree and started setting the lights in place from the top.

"Christmas cookies are the best." Kelso moved to the other side of the tree and began working.

With their response Kitty laughed and moved into the kitchen to finish up the cookies and make the coca.

The two boys worked in silence, the lights covering more and more of the tree. Every so often Fez sneaks a peak, noticing the way Kelso is looking at the tree.

"What are you think of, old buddy?" Fez finally spoke up after a few moments of working in silence.  
"Oh nothing…" Kelso didn't look up from adjusting the lights, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Oh come on, with an expression like that you have to be thinking of something." Fez bent over to work on the lower part of the tree.

With both of them working separate jobs and Kelso having a daughter, neither of them got to spend a lot of time together. Even so, Fez still felt a lot of things for Kelso, but knew he could never tell the other about them.

"Well I was just thinking that when Betsy gets older I want to do this kind of stuff with her." Kelso was different when he talked about his daughter.

Fez loved the way Kelso acted about his daughter, but something deep inside of him felt painful almost like he was jealous of the attention that Kelso gave Betsy.

"What is so great about Betsy? I mean she is just some baby." Fez regretted the words almost instantly, not just because they sounded incredibly stupid but because he didn't want to be snide towards Kelso.

Kelso looked up from the tree and arched his eyebrows causing him to glare. He searched Fez's expression, but the foreign youngster was keeping his attention on the tree.

"Hey man, what's your problem? That's my daughter, not just some baby." Kelso set the lights against the tree, moving his hands to his hips.

Fez moved his head, almost hiding himself behind the tree. He knew the second the words left his mouth it was going to start something. He shrugged in response, hoping he wouldn't have to speak, in fear his voice would give his anxiety away.

"Fez, c'mon man, tell me why you said that?" Kelso slapped Fez's shoulder light in attempt to get him to face towards Kelso.

Fez shook his head.  
"I am sorry, I did not mean anything." He continued to hide his face.

"It's alright; just don't say things like that again. You're my buddy Fez; I really want you and Betsy to get along." His tone sounded brighter.

Fez just smiled and nodded, he could never tell Kelso that he was jealous of the other's own daughter.

It only took the boys a few more minutes to finish the lights. Both stepped back and scanned the tree, noting how nice it looked.

"Hey man, we're actually pretty good at this." Kelso wrapped his arm around Fez's shoulders and shook him.  
"Now hand me the box of ornaments so we can start setting them up. I bet Mrs. Forman is going to love this." Kelso pointed at a box marked '_Christmas Ornaments'_.

"I agree…" Was the only thing Fez could muster.

His slender fingers slid across the box before he heaved it into his arms and faced Kelso. Fez kept his face pointed down towards the box. He worried that if he looked up at Kelso, he would let everything he's kept secret out.

Kelso may not have been all that smart but it didn't take him very long to notice his friend's attitude. He took the box from Fez's arms and set it on the ground next to the tree. Kelso pretended as if he didn't notice anything. He opened the box and just as slowly started to take out some of the Forman ornaments. With the silence came a feeling Kelso hated.

He stood up and faced Fez.  
"You nodded man, you made it seem like you were ok but you're not ok at all." Kelso crossed his arms.

The abrupt movements made Fez flinch. He just looked up at Kelso, his eyes moving over every feature on his face. Fez always noted Kelso's beauty but something had slowly become different. His feature weren't just beautiful; they caused Fez's whole body to react.

"I do not understand what you are talking about? I am fine." Fez smiled, and gave Kelso a thumbs up.

Kelso set both his hands on Fez's cheeks and forced his friend to look up at him. Kelso wasn't going to let Fez avoid whatever was going on. They had been best buddies for far too long.  
"Then why haven't you looked at me."

"I was just looking at you." Fez felt his body tense up, he pulled at Kelso's arm.

"No I mean really look at me; you're just smiling and trying to make me leave you alone." Kelso was hurt by his own words.

Fez didn't have a response; he just let his hands fall to his sides. Everyone thought Kelso was so stupid, but Fez knew he wasn't as dumb as people made him out to be.  
"Please let me go." His thick accent and low tone made it hard for Kelso to understand.

"No." Kelso made his voice stern, trying to force Fez to talk.

"Michael please…" Fez's voice came out shaky and sounded almost like a whimper.

It had been so long since he'd heard Fez call him by his first name. He moved his head closer to the others, their breath bouncing off of each other. He wanted to hear it again, the way Fez said his name.

He moved his right hand from Fez's cheek to the back of his neck, his lips against his tanned companion's ear.  
"Call me Michael again." He whispered.

Fez shuddered, he had no idea what was happening but he didn't want it to stop.  
"Michael…Michael…" Both times Fez spoke Kelso's name his voice got smaller.

As Fez's voice entered Kelso's ear, his grip tightened on the back of the others neck. Kelso pulled his head back only to press his lips against the others.

Fez didn't move for what seemed like an eternity, Michaels cologne was the only thing Fez could smell. He kissed back, almost timidly. He had no idea what to do with his hands so he placed them against the pretty boy's chest.

Kelso didn't wait for Fez to get used to the kiss before he started moving his lips harder against the others. As the kiss got deeper Kelso could tell how inexperienced Fez was at kissing, and he found it somewhat alluring. He'd been with so many experienced women that the sloppy and insecure way Fez was reacting was fresh.

Fez enjoyed the kiss for a few moments before he realized what and where this was happening. He pushed Kelso away by his chest, licking the saliva off of his lips while looking at Kelso with a hurt expression.

Kelso looked at Fez with a confused expression; Fez had kissed back so he didn't see why he was pushed away. He extended his hand to touch the other's cheek but Fez jerked his face away.  
"Fez?"

"I think this is good day." Fez had no other way to respond besides that.

Kelso just tilted his head; he'd heard that phrase said by his foreign friend many times but this time it seemed out of place, considering.  
"C'mon Fez don't do this." Kelso attempted to set his hand on Fez's shoulder but failed when Fez slipped out of reach.

"I said good day!" Fez's voice still sounded shaky.

Michael was forced to watch as Fez scurried out the door, his fist clenched as Fez slammed the Forman's front door. It only took him mere moments for what had just happened to set in. The 18 year old set his hand over his mouth and leaned up against the back of the couch.

He couldn't help but feel his entire face get hot. He'd never dream of kissing another guy, let alone one of his friends, but the kiss felt good.

As Kelso stood in the living room alone freaking out about what had happened. Kitty was on the other side of the swinging door in the kitchen, her eyes widened. She was going to walk into the living room sooner but heard the commotion and decided to see if they could work it out themselves.

She sat the plate of cookies on the counter next to her, her mind moving a thousand miles a minute trying to figure what to do. How could she tell Kelso that she witnessed that, how could she not?

Kitty peaked into the living room once more, realizing that it could be more that a spur of the moment action, that the boys might have feelings that go beyond old pals.

"Well let's see if Michael wants to have a cookie…" Kitty picked the plate of cookies up off the counter.  
"Looks like he might need one." She gathered all her pride as a mother and moved through the door.


End file.
